Sony Blocks PS4 Crossplay Because of Money, Says Ex-CEO

By Kyle Sledge 27 June 2018

Just last week, Epic Games made its wildly popular and successful multiplayer sandbox survival shooter Fortnite available for Nintendo Switch, with many on the Big N’s hybrid mobile console then discovering that trying to sign in on the Switch using a PS4-linked account with Epic Games forces players to make a new one. Loads of fans were understandably upset at this, and according to Sony Online Entertainment Ex-CEO John Smedley, the primary reason that PlayStation 4 crossplay is blocked with other platfroms is due to money.

The image directly below depicts what Fortnite players on Nintendo Switch encounter if they want to use their Epic Games account that was previously linked to their PlayStation 4 console, with Smedley saying this practice stays in place due to Sony‘s concern of the bottom line. As stated by the ex-CEO, “When I was at Sony, the stated reason internally for this was money,” Smedley said. “They didn’t like someone buying something on an Xbox and it being used on a Playstation. Simple as that. Dumb reason, but there it is.”

Several days ago, Sony offered a response to the inability of many Nintendo Switch owners being unable to play Fortnite on the Big N’s newest system, but the statement from the company did very little to actually address the issue, instead pointing out the type of crossplay it already offers. This sort of reaction from Sony definitely supports Smedley’s claim, as it points to the PlayStation firm’s fear of losing money in any of its revenue streams.

At any rate, it’s a safe bet to make that we will not see Sony capitulate to fans’ desires to see crossplay occur between PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch – or Xbox One for that matter – any time soon. As Sony mentioned in its statement addressing the lack of Switch crossplay, the company has “more than 80 million monthly active users on PlayStation Network”, meaning that the company only seems interested in retaining and expanding that number.